White Women’s Groups are consciousness-raising, anti-racist organizing, and educational space facilitated by Mistress Syndrome, the ultimate goal of which is to access our position, power, and agency as status quo and passing white women* in order to dismantle oppression at the intersections of racism, patriarchy, and capitalism while also creating new healthy, holistic, and humanistic collective identities around white womanhood.
WWG is lifelong work. WWG has an accountable relationship with YogaRoots On Location Certified Registered Yoga Teacher Training and participants are required to have attended an anti-racist workshop by People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond’s Undoing Racism Training, the Soul Focused Group, YogaRoots On Location, or equivalent.
WWG Sessions Include:
Understanding the Nested Model
Examining Internalized Racial Superiority
Exploring Extended Family Patterns and Assimilation into Whiteness
Local Finance and the History of Patriarchy and Economic (In)Justice
Exploring Family of Origin and Raising Anti-Racist Children
Cultivating Self-Love and Emotional Resilience
White Woman Identity and Building a Collective Anti-Racist Identity
Leveraging Gatekeeping Power in Professional Life and Other Spheres of Influence
Understanding the Context of Geographic Community and the History of Colonization
Exploring Intimate Partner Relationships
Considering Spiritual Practice and Cultural Appropriation
Maintaining Accountability
Creating a Collective Plan of Action
*“What do we mean by the term “white woman”?
“‘When we say “white woman,” we are not necessarily referring to a personal identity. We are referring to a dominant or mainstream identity with certain images, messages and narratives that have been used to uphold systems of oppression.’* It is an identity that many who have experienced socialization as white and female often have to negotiate with, whether by resisting, conforming, imitating, subverting or distancing. It’s this negotiation and relationship to “white women” that we are investigating, whether it is our current identity, a past or new identity, or a personal or political connection to the effects of this identity. In our dialogues and workshops we honor every body’s unique relationship to the themes explored. Even if we have never had a Barbie, we know what she looks like, what she symbolizes and what oppressions are committed in her name.”
(from conspireforchange.org)
